Everything you need to know about Russell Simmons and Kimora Lee Simmons' two daughters, Ming and Aoki
Barnaby Lane
- Russell Simmons and Kimora Lee Simmons share two daughters, Ming and Aoki.
- Lee recently accused her ex-husband of "threatening" them.
Ming Lee Simmons is Russell and Kimora's eldest daughter.
Ming Lee Simmons was born on January 21, 2000.
Tyra Banks is her godmother.
Banks was a bridesmaid at Simmons and Lee's wedding in 1998.
"I think there was always something about Tyra and I think she saw that in me, too," Lee told Hello of Banks in 2013.
Ming modeled for her parents' fashion brand as a child.
Russell Simmons launched Phat Fashions in 1992.
After he married Lee, he expanded the business with a womenswear clothing line named Baby Phat, of which Lee took the reins.
She went on to study at New York University.
Ming, now 23, graduated from New York University earlier this year.
She's now a model and wants to work in fashion like her mother.
"I studied fashion in school, and I really, really love working with my mom, so I'm gonna start there," she told Entertainment Tonight.
In the future, Ming hopes to do "something with my own fashion brand and just kind of staying around the fashion" world, she said. "Because that's what makes me really happy."
Aoki is two years younger than Ming.
Aoki Lee Simmons was born on August 16, 2002.
Like her sister, she also modeled for Baby Phat as a child.
She was accepted into Harvard when she was just 16.
"I'm still crying and beaming," Aoki's mother said in a video after the teenager received her acceptance letter. "You don't understand, this has been a ride for me. I'm two out of two kids in college."
She now wants to be a lawyer.
Now 20, Aoki is pursuing a modeling career while applying to graduate school to study law, according to Entertainment Tonight.
Aoki recently spoke out against her father.
On Monday, Kimora Lee accused Russell Simmons, whom she divorced in 2009, of "threatening" Ming and Aoki after he shared a cryptic Instagram post that appeared to suggest Lee won't let him see his daughters.
"Leave my kids alone," wrote Lee in a story.
The same day, Aoki posted a video of Russell appearing to yell at her over FaceTime to her Instagram page.
"This is not someone who will accept help," she wrote alongside the video, adding that she thinks her father could be "mentally ill."
"This is just one screen recording sorry I don't always remember to press 'record' when he calls my friends, my boyfriend, anyone, to get a chance to threaten and curse and go crazy," she wrote.
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